Sensex Recovers From Intraday Lows, RIL, HDFC Bank Among Top Movers

The Sensex and Nifty recovered from intraday lows and edged higher in afternoon deals led by gains in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Lupin, Larsen & Toubro, Dr Reddy’s Labs and Kotak Mahidra Bank. Earlier in the day, the Indian benchmark indices edged lower tracking weaker global markets on worries the European Central Bank is moving closer to unwinding its massive monetary stimulus. The Sensex fell as much as 82 points and Nifty moved below important psychological level of 9,650.

From the Nifty basket of shares, 27 were trading higher while 24 were among the losers. Lupin was the top Nifty gainer, up 4.35 per cent at Rs. 1,128 on value buying. Reliance Industries was also among the gainers, leading the recovery in the market as its stock price rose 2.36 per cent to Rs. 1,477. Aurobindo Pharma, Lupin, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Cipla, Zee Entertainment, Bharti Airtel and Tech Mahindra were also among the gainers.

On the sectoral front, pharma shares were witnessing good buying interest. The BSE healthcare index rose 1.44 per cent. Realty, oil & gas and capital goods shares were also witnessing buying interest. At the same time, select banking, FMCG, consumer durables and IT shares were seen weighing on the upward movement of the Sensex and Nifty.

The broader markets were trading on a mixed note as mid-cap index rose 0.12 per cent while the small-cap index jumped 0.45 per cent.

Among the individual shares, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which owns IndiGo airlines, fell as much as 0.89 percent amid lingering worries about its interest in buying state-owned carrier Air India.

On Thursday InterGlobe’s co-founder sought to allay some investor concerns by saying it was interested in Air India’s international arm and its low-cost division, Air India Express, rather than the whole business.

As of 2:17 pm, the Sensex was up 41 points at 31,410 and Nifty was at 9,680, up 6 points.